The Libyan government will immediately pay half the money it owes to Turkish construction contractors who were not paid for the projects they carried out before clashes between late dictator Muammar Gaddafi and opposition fighters broke out last year, Economy Minister Zafer Chaglayan said in a statement released on Sunday Today`s Zaman reported

In the statement, the minister noted that Libyan Prime Minister Abd al-Rahim al-Keeb has already ordered the partial servicing of the debt. Turkish construction companies had to suspend projects in Libya following last year's countrywide unrest. Companies say they failed to receive $1.4 billion in total for the projects they had completed prior to the problems in the North African country.

Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), formed following the civil uprising, has already agreed to pay $400 million of that total. Unpaid money aside, Turkish companies left $100 million in deposits in Libyan banks, while they also suffered losses to their construction equipment during clashes and looting.

A large majority of Turkish construction projects, worth $15 billion, are still under way and are expected to be resumed in the war-torn country.